You desire to pray to patron saints, Mary, accept Marian dogmas because there tradition says so? The Word Of God is the two edged sword not catholism. Just to clarify!

It’s beautiful being a Catholic, we have the most precious sacraments like the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, sacrament of reconciliation. After confession, one experiences the most wonderful feeling of having a heavy weight lifted off your shoulders. Receiving Jesus Christ is an indescribable feeling. The love and assistance from our mother in heaven fills your heart. I could never leave the treasures we have in our Catholic faith. May God bless you and guide you in this journey. Ask, and you shall receive… God knows our hearts and he is always listening. He will grant you what you ask him if it’s good for the salvation of your soul.

I will pray for you. The greatest humans to live were the Saints and I will pray to them to help you along on your journey back to Christ the King. Through the intercession of his saints and the blessed Virgin Mary , His Mother on Earth and Ours, You will be safe from the enemy who tricks us and tests our faith. God bless you in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit Amen.

In the Catholic Church we have patron saints for just about everything, from Alpine troops (St. Maurice) to zoos (St. Francis of Assisi). They’re an important part of Catholic spirituality, because we believe that the saints are still alive, that we are still connected to them through the Holy Spirit in the Communion of Saints, and that they can still help us with their prayers since they’re united with God in heaven. We also should have patrons of our own. I have a small army but my main man is Saint Columba of Scotland. I also have Saint Stephen the Protomartyr as my confirmation Saint because as a young boy I was compelled by his bravery and commitment to our Lord , God and saviour Jesus Christ. His story left an almighty impression on me and I pray for his intercession along with others. Saint Peter, Saint Andrew, Blessed Carlo Acutis and the list goes on. It’s wonderful to learn of their lives as all of them offer us a virtue to learn and they always direct us to Jesus Christ on the cross. We can find who our patrons are in all sorts of glorious ways and they can find us too. They will help you forever.

@@mari7775 All believers are indwelt with the HOLY SPIRIT. Catholism claims the eucharist is literal body and Blood? That would make it a contradiction. Is catholism saying that the HOLY SPIRIT is not enough or not God? Jesus said do this in memory ! We already have His presence in and thru the HOLY SPIRIT, get it!

I'm not impressed

@@hello-cn5nh Ciao

@@hello-cn5nh Well, everybody is entitled to their own opinion.

Catholicism, the one and only church founded by our Lord Jesus Christ. Every other denomination are founded by men and teach different doctrines but not Jesus's doctrines.

@@comunidadpadreluistoro I don't think it is so simple. Eastern Ortodox also have apostolic succession, so they can claim exactly the same.

Hear hear!

Welcome brother. Ave Christus Rex

Same here! Making my way to the Church 🙏🏻

@@tony1685 it says “The Catholic Church is not *the* Church” ??

@@tony1685 tell us which commandments has the Church broken in regards to your references? And, have you personally broken any commandment that He will not forgive you for?

@@tony1685 Of course I believe it, as Scripture I must believe it. It’s your interpretations I still fail to understand. Are you Adventist?

awesome. i’m going to Franciscan next year to major in philosophy. very excited

Dr. Plato is the best. The only teacher that I wish would lecture more!

@@tony1685 Stop following the wrong religion and convert to Hinduism!

@@tony1685 Colossians 2:16

God Bless You! Welcome home!

@@tony1685 I am praying for you.

@@tony1685 Hi Tony - I’ve learned through much experience that KZfaq is not a productive place for such discussions and debate. Rather than me reproducing fundamental Catholic teachings here, I ask you to prayerfully access the videos on KZfaq by people like Trent Horn, Jimmy Akin, Scott Hahn, Joe Heschmeyer and many others who are so gifted at explaining the beautiful harmony between the Church Christ left us and the Holy Scriptures that came forth through the work of the Holy Spirit from that church. I realize right now you don’t agree with that last statement, and that’s fine, we are all at different points in our walk with the Lord. If you believe in Jesus and are baptized with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, then we are brothers in Christ. Peace.

@@tony1685 Tony this is most certainly not a good place for discussion. What are the chances that your mind could be changed by ANYTHING said here? I dare say it’s 0%. Just like Saul was not going to be convinced by mere words, but rather a different kind of intervention changed his heart. I’ve experienced an unsurpassing love from this Jesus and His gifts that HE freely gives through His Church. I’m as confident in the reality of this Christ as I am that the sun will rise tomorrow. And I’ve seen and experienced literal miracles too when praying to Jesus, special gifts of God to show His love for me as an individual. If you get to heaven and see Catholics - will you turn away, and say, “No way God, THOSE people aren’t supposed to be here!!” Please be very very careful about criticizing His Church. It’s one thing to have debates about scientific theories or politics and later find out you were on the wrong side… the consequences aren’t that bad… but if what the Catholic Church teaches turns out to be true and you spent so much time directly attacking it and spreading lies about it… then what? “Oops God, I’m sorry.” You would really be banking on God’s mercy to excuse you based on ignorance. You simply have NO IDEA what you are talking about when you talk about the Catholic faith. The claim that Catholics are pagans is so juvenile and profoundly wrong there is no use in replying to it. If someone says the moon is made of cheese, how many hours would you be willing to debate them? And do you think that person would ever be convinced otherwise anyway?? But I AM happy to talk with non-Catholic Christians about all sorts of things, sharing about what we DO have in common, which is a love for Christ and hearts filled with thanksgiving for what He has done for us. We have an amazing God. God Bless.

That doesn't make any sense at all. Catholicism adds works to salvation. By definition it is more complicated than true Protestant Christianity.

By saying this it unfortunately shows you do not know what Catholics believe or our relationship with Jesus. I am a convert from atheism. I was Baptised Catholic decades ago and I understand exactly why I am Catholic, because of Christ. I would encourage you to really experience what Catholics believe, how we pray and worship. We have an intimate relationship with Jesus, you are mislead if you think anything else.

Cradle Catholic and I love my faith and I continue to learn more and more. The more I learn, the more I appreciate my faith.

@@viviennedunbar3374 I love when people on the internet gaslight me. I was raised Catholic. I personally have spent hours studying Catholicism. Adding works to salvation is saying that what Jesus did isn't good enough. That's disgusting. Accept Christ, don't add to it. Mike Winger has done excellent teachings on Catholicism.

@@MyBrandingIsBad Mike Winger is a more like magic Mike😂. He loves to twist things around and pretend he is so humble 🤢 hypocrisy much. There are better Protestant ministers/preachers to be following.

Catholicism is a perversion of what Jesus actually said. Catholicism elevates humans and degrades God. Telling your sins to a human does not erase them. God doesn't need a representative on Earth to do his work

@@friendlyneighborhoodhuman John 20, 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

@@friendlyneighborhoodhuman John 20, 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

@@friendlyneighborhoodhuman John 20:21

@@aadschram5877 that's the problem with these modern English translations.. In Mark Jesus clearly says only the Son OF MAN has the authority of forgiving sins and in the Bible, Son of Man title is exclusively given to Jesus alone.. Now you are telling me that, there are Jesus 2.0's are living among us?

If you like Fr Knox you should check out the Enthusiasm series on Meaning of Catholic channel

Thank you.

God bless you on your journey!

Why? nothing new under the sun. Catholic theology leads to confusion and bondage

@@fabiotuan5206 Sad you feel that way. I Enjoy watching these conversations between Christians.

I am a protestant and I can't understand the fullness of truth with respect to Mary's whole being. What is she? A human? A god? If she's just a human, shall we treat her as such? Catholic answer that I usually hear is, we revere Mary because she is Jesus' mother. But that could be confusing because the kimd reverence we give to God can be extended to Mary, which could further mean that we respect Mary like a divine being? That's one major reason why some Catholics, are "practically" worshipping Mary despite their denial. That is also the reason why I hesitate becoming a catholic.

@@jingostarrsumatra4659 To be clear: Mary is human, not a god. When we speak of honouring Mary as Jesus's mother, we are hearkening back to the commandment that every person is to honour their father and mother, and we trust that as the perfect human (Jesus being the God-man Himself, fully God and fully man, perfect in every human virtue including the virtue of filial piety), Jesus perfectly lived out what it means to honour his mother. Even though she is a mere human, a mere creation in every way by nature subordinate to her Creator -- the Creator humbled himself to his creature first by becoming a baby in the arms of his created mother, and subjecting himself to the rule of his merely human, merely creaturely parents in their human household, before subjecting himself to the religious and political authorities who sent him to his cross. And he subjected himself to them without resentment, in a manifestation of his Divine humility. Part of the perfection of his humanity was in how perfectly he lived out being a son who truly honoured his human parents. Not just lip service that didn't involve his heart or mind, but true honour of his parents as only the God-man could perfectly do. (So this is why you'll often hear Catholics say that it's not _possible_ to honour Mary more than Jesus does, because Jesus honours her perfectly and we can never outdo him in honouring his mother; it's not meant to say we can't wrongfully do things that have nothing to do with honour-properly-understood and are actually sinful or something, but if we're talking about true and virtuous honouring? We can't overdo that, we can't outdo Jesus in the honour of son for mother that he embodies for Mary.) And from the cross, Jesus gave his mother to us and called her our mother, so now we honour her as our mother too. There's more to discuss from there, but that's where I'd start, and also with the reminder for all of us that the fact that some people might go 'too far' in applying a _misunderstanding_ of _any_ Christian teaching, can't ever invalidate the reality of a teaching when its properly understood. Misunderstandings of teachings should only ever call us to better catechesis/learning and application of teachings properly understood, not to abandoning any element of truth just because some people misunderstand the truth. You might benefit from Tim Staples' book, 'Behold Your Mother'? Or maybe from checking out free material about Mary from the Catholic Answers youtube channel or Catholic.com. But basically I just want to encourage you: what the Church really teaches about Mary is nothing to be afraid of, and becoming Catholic will _never_ require that you adopt some false belief that Mary is a god or anything like that. You are safe to continue to explore the Church and know that you will never be required to elevate a creature above the Creator (in fact you would be guilty if you did -- even if you see others who seem to be actually living out that failure). Cling to Jesus, and follow where he goes, and do what he says: That's the only thing Mary will ever point you to anyway, as she instructed the servants at the wedding at Cana. Mary always points us straight back to her son, as our Lord and hers. The fact that Jesus honours her as the perfect God-man obeying the commandment to honour his mother, and the fact that he gave her to be our mother from the cross, is a beautiful mystery to be unpacked perhaps across a lifetime -- but you don't actually have to start there by the way if it's difficult for you. I didn't begin to draw close to Mary until some time after entering the Church, and that's okay. For now just keep your eyes on her son, and maybe at most explore enough about Mary to learn that nothing about her should _prevent_ you from becoming Catholic? And don't force yourself to try to adopt any particular form of devotion related to her that feels totally alien or even blasphemous to you right now. The point is her Son, her Lord, our Lord, the Son of the Father. The Father is God: Mary is just a creature, albeit a creature honoured by the Son as part of his Divine condescension and humility, as part of subjecting himself in service to his creation. But God is God, and Mary isn't. Mary is just a creature, and the Church will never teach otherwise. And now I'm talking in circles and will just stop. But be not afraid :) There really is nothing 'wrong' about honouring Jesus' mother like he honoured her -- and no one will ask you to honour her _more_ than Jesus would honour her, and we wouldn't be capable of that anyway. Discussion about what honour should look like and comfort levels with different practices are a separate conversation, but that's basically the crux of it as far as I see.

@@caterinadc5567 i am replete with catholic narratives with regard to Mary (don't get me wrong on that, i have no intention to be rude). And my problem with that is there are lots of people who've been in the Church for so long, yet still failed to see the distinction between "honouring" and blatantly "worshipping". The ambiguity of such "honouring" is causing people to fall, and the fact that it's been happening for so long is telling us that Church authority is somehow ambivalent on correcting such mistake.

@@jingostarrsumatra4659 I appreciate that you're not trying to be rude! I also appreciate what sounds like your intuition that the Church hierarchy 'should' be more effective at publicly and persistently correcting the mistakes of her erring members. I actually share your starting intuition (and personally long for more clarity and manifest courage from those in teaching offices), so guess where I might see things a little differently is on a few other points... Here's the main one: It strikes me that our intuition of what we 'should' be seeing from those in the Church hierarchy (clear and persistent pastoral corrections when lay members err) is more of a 'wouldn't it be nice' intuition, similar to how it 'would be nice' if Jesus just miraculously manifested himself to every human on earth at once, the way that many atheists say God 'should' do things if He really wants us to be Christian. I think just like atheists are missing the mark when they claim that God 'should' do things according to their intuitions and if He doesn't, they're excused from belief, we'd be missing the mark to claim the Church 'should' do things according to our intuitions and if she doesn't, we're excused from belief. Jesus simply never promised to manifest himself to every human on earth at once in the way atheists might wistfully imagine, and Jesus simply never promised that his Church's members would be so personally impeccable that they'd make pastorally prudent choices persistently, in the way that we might wistfully imagine. Jesus never promised that becoming a priest would make a man such a perfect parent that he would never fail to be consistent with disciplining his children, would never be overwhelmed or distracted or even allowed to choose sin; Jesus never promised to take away the free will of the members of His Church to the point of His Church's members being immune to human temptations, frailties, or the consequences of our own self-permitted failures. Jesus empowers the Church through the Holy Spirit to preserve the deposit of faith and teach truthfully, yes: but what is promised is actually more limited than we often might wish, and is less coercive against our free will, and includes allowing us to deal with the consequences of our own personal/political/pastoral failures, more than we might think we'd prefer. The truth is that of Jesus' handpicked apostles, one betrayed him to death, another denied him three times, and all but one were absent at the foot of the cross. If anything, this witness should only fill us with awe at the heroic deeds Church members often _do_ perform through the Holy Spirit -- not fill us with glumness when God allows us to see the reality of our human failings and ongoing need to cooperate with His graces. Yes, sometimes Church leaders fail to live up to the pastoral responsibilities of the teaching office with which they've been entrusted, and sometimes God allows those failures to have consequences... and that's a reason for us to pray for the souls of all those entrusted with the heavy burden of a teaching office, and to pray for the souls of those impacted by their pastoral failures. I mean the truth also is, by the way, that the Church _has_ addressed excesses of Marian devotion, in a clear way. No one with internet access who honestly investigates the question can fail to learn what the Church actually teaches vs doesn't teach about Mary. So again, I don't think we can hold 'The Church' overall guilty for whatever small geographic regions may have lax overseers who fail to _persistently repeat_ and implement the teachings of the Church for those members of their local flock who persistently reject the actual teaching of the Church. And that's assuming their local clerics don't try to issue the corrections, and it's not just really stubborn individual laypeople determined to ignore legitimate authorities (in which case, what's your suggestion? Excommunication? I mean that does get used sometimes, but excommunication is a sort of side topic and ongoing debate between people who disagree about when that's the right medicine to use versus different medicine). Even if members of some regions broke away from the Church entirely and publicly and deliberately on some point, even if priests or bishops did so, that wouldn't invalidate the Church herself, only underline further how it's possible for each of us as individuals to reject the authority of the Church Christ gave us, to fall away. And it can only remind us of how minimal and specific the promises Jesus made us are, and how we have to continually go back to the root of it, go back to the basics of the Church he gave us, go back to the rock of Peter, the deposit of faith, and Jesus himself in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist (and so on). The politics of pastoral care and personal failures to be prudent in political/pastoral matters -- it's important, and honestly I get emotional about pastors who seem to fail to exercise their teaching authority in what seems to me like the best way. I look forward with hope to the day when our teachers remember their obligation of clarity, when they remember that the truth is what sets us all free, and stop being coy or shy with it under the impression that this may pastorally help anyone. But in the end, I have to attend to where Jesus has actually called me -- and in my day-to-day, this is His Church, and working out my own salvation with fear and trembling while a lay member of His Church. I am not myself a priest or bishop, and while I may have opinions (and there may be appropriate fora for expressing them), ultimately I believe at the final judgement I'll have to give account for what I did with what I was given... and I believe I've been given enough to know that Christ founded his Church on the rock of Peter and this is where I need to endure, to cling close to Christ. Even amidst the storms that are all the worse for any Church members (like Judas) being complicit in them. Whatever opinions I may express or whatever work I may do towards reform of the Church (if God seems to call me to that), I see no alternative to first submitting to the Church and being a member of her, to do whatever work God calls me to from within. I honestly believe I need the Church more than she needs me. She is the boat, the ark with which Christ saves us from the storm, the flood. So if God calls me to defend or otherwise support her, may I absolutely do so -- but may I do that from the inside, not imagine I can somehow do that from the outside. I need to receive from Christ first, before I can authentically communicate Christ to others. And while the Church may have her Judas's, she also has her bridegroom, Christ. So here I am. In the boat to be with Christ, not with Judas, even if Judas is here too. Letting Judas into his boat was Jesus's call, not mine, and I'm going to focus on how grateful I am that Jesus made the call to let me in too, rather than jumping out of the boat to get away from Judas (inherently getting away from Jesus when I leave the boat too). I can't think it's my calling to try to be Judas's judge (or the boat's judge on the basis of Judas being in it). Jesus is the judge, and I'll leave that to him, and just be thankful he let me into this hospital rather than judging the hospital for having sick people in it. And with that final metaphor mixed in, I'll let you return to your morning. :) Sorry for the long-windedness! I hope something was fruitful there.

@@caterinadc5567 Having read all of your reply, it made me realize that being lax in reminding the laity is not the root cause of the excesses (Marian devotion), but the reasoning behind the identification of Mary's being does, which lacks clarity. I wanted to believe that you are going to agree with me that God's Church does not lead people to idolatry, which isn't entirely happening.

@YAJUN YUAN But what if the Holy Spirit guided the Church? By His Omnipotent power He would prevent any and all erroneous changes.

@YAJUN YUAN spoken like someone with no faith

@YAJUN YUAN Hi Yajun Yuan, I am a simple practising Catholic man. My intentions are purely investigative on understanding your truth and to get a better perspective in a respectful manner. From your view as you say after 200 years something changed in the true Church which indicates that the Catholic Church or even Orthodoxy isn't the real Church Christ founded. I guess you are of the view that we are misguided by the truth yet we did something hopefully righteous in eyes of God. We passed on scripture from generation to generation and still let Christianity spread (in error by your opinion) throughout the known world (even after AD200). If the Catholic or Orthdox Churches are the oldest surviving Churches who believe in Christ today, I just don't understand that centuries would pass by until the truth is revealed to a true Protestant Church (definition in my words - any demonination opposing Catholics or Orthdoxy). Which Protestant church and how does this connect with the Church that Christ essentially builds with Peter as the rock, not 1500+ years later? Also it is said that, Nor will the gates of hades prevail against it. If the church of 200 years failed? Why should any other truth be recognised, even yours? My other thoughts... To be in union with Christ is to be united in his truth (no division as there can only be one truth). Before the Protestant reform, there was no major disunity until the Catholic and Orthdox Church split. This unity lasted for 8 centuries even if we discount the first 2. Since 1500s to now, the number of Christian denominations is in the tens of thousands. Nothing of this calibre is seen in old testament Israel i.e. the largest division AFAIK was Israel/Judah and the Pharisees/Saducees. I guess there are so many apparent truths but the most important truth to get right is the subject of salvation. God bless you.

Hard to be one when we all don’t believe the same things. Reconciling these differences is the best way to become unified.

Read Galatians

Literal noise - as in WAY TOO LOUD music - constantly. For the literal love of God, please turn down the musical noise!

@@marlaemerson3008 not only that but during prayer when the pastors are trying to intercede for us, it only gets pretty hectic.

@@marlaemerson3008 I really love the Silence in the prayerlife of the Catholic Church. In high school , in college and even when I was already working, we were sent to retreats at some religious convent. The talk given by a priest and then the silence. Beautiful. They make your soul breathe. Our relationship with Our Lord deepens only in silence. The music is good but silence is absolutely necessary.

I don’t get it 🤷🏻‍♀️

You have the true heart of seeking God's truth.Your openess in hearing this podcast and your response proves you will one day find Joy in Christ.God bless

I was on the same journey and came to Roman Catholicism as I began to see the schism of 1054 as the first reformation and split from the true faith. Good luck on your journey and God Bless.

Praying for you and your journey!!🙏

Anglican Catholics are still technically protestant!

@@emiliawisniewski3947 only in the sense of breaking away from the Roman church in the English reformation. However we tend to stay away from the term since the British church goes back to the year 200 or so

@@ryanthomas3059 If you’re referring to the personal ordinariates of the Catholic Church for former Anglicans (incorrectly called Anglican Catholics) or the Latin Rite English Catholics that have always been in communion with Rome, then I would agree with you. Those two groups represent the ‘Church in England’ as it was established historically. But if you’re referring to Anglican Catholics as the group under the Anglican communion (which is what I'm assuming you are referring to) then it’s incorrect to not refer to this group as protestant. The English Reformation was part of the greater Protestant Reformation occurring in Europe at the time, originating in Germany. King Henry was heavily influenced by the German Protestant Reformer's theology, but retained almost all of the liturgical elements of the Latin Rite Catholic Church mass. The break from the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church and the formation of the Church of England was a protestant movement. At that point in history there were then English Latin Rite Catholics (still in communion with Rome but worshipping in secret) and English Protestants (i.e. Church of England). However if you had walked into a COE service at the time, it would have been the same as a Latin Rite mass in its presentation, but not in its substance. The presentation of the liturgy changed fundamentally over time and some were not happy with this and the Anglican Catholic Church group evolved as a revisionist movement in the Church of England spurred by the Oxford Movement to get the Church of England back to its “Catholic” roots. There are some members of this movement that claim to be under papal supremacy although are not in communion with Rome (but are trying), but the vast majority of Anglican Catholics are not seeking communion with Rome but would like a return to the culture (for lack of a better world) that originated in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. They are still firmly part of the ‘Anglican’ communion which is a group of diverse protestant churches. Interestingly this unique English style of Latin rite worship has found its way back into the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church through the personal ordinariates for former Anglicans. Not being a Catholic of English origin myself, it’s quite a nice form of liturgical worship to observe, and I’m glad its back in the Catholic family. To say that you’ve ‘converted’ from being a Protestant into an Anglican Catholic is also incorrect as you’re still a Protestant Christian, you’ve simply changed denominations. But if you were to become an Orthodox or Catholic Christian then the term ‘converted’ would be correct. If we want to really get stuck in the weeds, you’re also not technically becoming a priest, as only Eastern Orthodox and Catholics have the true apostolic succession required to permit this. Therefore any host you hold up in your service will remain bread, even if you truly believe in transubstantiation, in contrast to your other Protestant peers . I can see your squeamishness with the use of the term ‘Protestant’ as the splintering of the Protestant is so immense that to call yourself a ‘Protestant’ isn’t as descriptive at all, but it is technically correct. Anglican Catholics are Protestant Christians in the Anglican Communion who can trace their origin to the Church of England. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s simply history.

@@emiliawisniewski3947 well you as a Roman Catholic would see it this way but is sadly incorrect. Orthodox and anglicans are waiting for the schismatic time to come back to traditions Catholic orthodoxy.

@@tony1685 I have no idea what you mean in this context

Why? nothing new under the sun Catholic theology leads to confusion and bondage

My friend, I was similar to you. Baptized Catholic, but was atheist for much of my youth. Later I attended and participated in a wonderful Presbyterian church. I deeply loved my Protestant church; however, what ultimately brought me back to Catholicism was the Eucharist. I still had many questions about the Catholicism, but after I became convinced that Jesus’ divine presence was in the sacrament, I reasoned that it would be impossible for Jesus to be fully present, yet be surrounded by theological error; therefore, I put my trust in Catholic doctrine. Best decision I ever made. If Jesus is present somewhere, where else in the universe should a Christian be?

@@Serquss How did the Eucharist bring you to Catholicism, when the Orthodox also have the sacraments?

"Eastern Orthodoxy does have an active and living magisterium capable of making decisive rulings of faith over the laity, however, this magisterial rule is done completely on a local level rather than on a universal level, differentlty from the ecumenical councils. " The role of individual bishops is not that of Magisterium. Local bishops can make practical decisions for how to best live out the faith (like how often should we fast? how strictly? when do we confirm the kids? etc.), but just logically speaking, let alone scripturally, they have NO authority to determine faith and doctrine. Otherwise you get the insanity that the Eastern Orthodox have, where some bishops reject contraception entirely (and then some), while others completely allow it, and many in-between. All saying their views are doctrinal. If you lived in Orthodox countries you'd see their situation is pretty dire.

Dr. Plato made the same choice that the early church had to make. Before the Bible canon was created and printed on paper, people had teachers (apostle - bishops) and were told in epistles to hold fast to the traditions that were taught to them by word of mouth or by letter. Jesus breathed on them, their teachings became God breathed, just like the scriptures. In charity and in Christ.

@@bevious Respectfully, it's not the same at all. The early believers did not have to decide between following the traditions of the church or following doctrines that contradict those earliest traditions and teachings.

I think he was more saying should I trust in myself and what my peers believe or what the teaching authority that the Catholic Church believes that has 2000 years of prayer, discernment, and studying to interpret scripture. Both claimed to have been inspired by the Holy Spirit. So it’s his own understanding vs the 2000 years of understanding of the Catholic Church.

In 787 you had the second council of Nicea, the last of the first seven councils.

@YAJUN YUAN Yes...The Church's take on inventions like cloning, in vitro fertilization etc..It could also be unprecedented social issues..

Exactly!

I think the Orthodox would still hold that they have an infallible teaching body, even from 787 on. They don't have the Magisterium but I think that still, the Ecumenical Patriarch and other Patriarchs have an authoritative power in matter of Faith and morals

@@giacomofilosofia That's a good point, thanks! To me it seems, though, the fact of the "lacking" councils remains striking. In 2016 an attempt at a pan-Orthodox council was made, but the Russian Orthodox Church pulled out and the Orthodox Churches of Antioch, Bulgaria, Georgia and America all did not participate...

Thanks!

Authority was given to the church by Jesus himself, not sola scriptura false doctrine i.e. personal opinion of the bible.

Now you mention it, I realize how true that is. Maybe because I have been a Catholic all my life and was born into a devout Catholic household and studied in Catholic schools run by the good St Paul's Sisters, and by the wonderful Spanish Agustinian priests who were holy and fatherly to us all, it was inevitable that I knew about and loved Our Lady of Fatima and had known her messages and apparitions as a matter of course. But now I see it in a fresh light through your eyes. And I realize how true it is that the miracles the Lord gives through His Blessed Mother were consistent and substantial. And that the number of miracles in the Catholic Church is a staggering fact. In the apparitions of Our Lady and the miracles of Saints in every generation from ancient to modern times and they all interconnect, have only one overarching message, prove the Truth of the Catholic Faith and point ultimately to the Holy Trinity, the One true God, revealed through the Second Person Jesus Christ. And also because I'm a cradle Catholic I know more about the myriad hoaxes and deceptions the enemy uses in order to discredit this holy work of God. Fortunately when you grow up in the Catholic world you think in terms of centuries and you learn to recognize the chaff from the wheat. And you discover that Our Blessed Lord directly intervenes in everything in life as a Good Shepherd would and that the Truth always prevails. God bless.

Every single day, around the world (universally), every time we participate in Mass, we witness a "miracle" in the consecration of the Host, the miracle of Transubstantiation.

@@peaceandjoy2568 one thing that sticks out to me is that I didn't have to analyze things as extensively as Cameron and Alex to convert. Their process is fine. I'm just saying there seems to be a more direct way, which is looking at the miracles and lives of the saints. You may study scripture, but you also have access to the -living experience of scripture- in the life of the saints. The concrete experience is on another level. This is not to say we shouldn't read scripture, or that protestants don't have authentic christian lives, but that protestantism, by its very nature, doesn't have the incarnational experience with Our Lord Jesus Christ as catholics have. In the Church you can litterally touch Our Lord every sunday. You can converse with the saints every day. They respond! It's a whole other level of experience. So my advice to the intellectually inclined (and I'm one of them) is to allow yourself to -double- your capacity of discerning the catholic life.

@ismarill, amazing testimony!! Thank you for sharing! God Bless

He says that Jesus has built his church primarily to teach and guide and unite people...However, after 787, the teaching office of orthodox Church is on pause....and they do not have a live teaching ministry as the catholic Church has, to settle questions on unprecedented social issues and scientific inventions....For eg, if a catholic wants to know if in vitro fertilization is moral, we have the majesterium... The Catholics do not believe that one man is infallible...They believe that the teaching of the majesterium is infallible...If Pope Francis says something on TV, it won't be considered as a teaching of the church...

@@annmary6974 What you said about Orthodoxy isn't true. That's my point.

@@sillysyriac8925 why not?